Fluff wins!

Yesterday marked the end of the Fluffergate saga, a heated battle over whether to serve Fluffernutters in Massachusetts schools.

The Fluffernutter, a popular New England sandwich made of peanut butter and Fluff marshmallow creme, became a topic of contention earlier this month, when Massachusetts state Senator Jarrett Barrios learned that his third-grade son was being served Fluffernutter sandwiches at school and proposed legislation to limit the serving of Fluffernutters statewide. State Representative Kathi-Anne Reinstein vowed to "fight to the death for Fluff" and began a campaign to designate the Fluffernutter, which originated in Massachusetts, the "official sandwich of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Impassioned Fluff fans called anti-Fluff politicians "anti-Massachusetts" and "almost anti-American," and the head of Fluff's parent company argued that obesity could not be legislated and begged to be allowed to make Fluff in peace. Yesterday Barrios, who admitted that he "loves Fluff as much as the next legislator," announced he would abandon the proposed amendment, saying that it had gotten to the point where his original goal, which was "to have a discussion about what is a healthy and nutritious meal for kids in school," was overshadowed.

Fluff is produced by family-owned Durkee-Mower Inc., which churns out 30,000 pounds of Fluff a day and 1.7 million pounds a year. Evidently, the company's motto—"First you spread, spread, spread your bread with peanut butter; add Marshmallow Fluff and have a Fluffernutter"—has been effective; Fluff is now distributed across North America and Europe and rivals Skippy's most popular peanut butter product as the best-selling item in the sandwich-spread sections of New England supermarkets. October 8th has even been designated as National Fluffernutter Day. "There are many who say you haven't really lived until you've taken a bite out of one of these distinctly American treats!" said Durkee-Mower Inc. president Don Durkee.

From a dietary standpoint, it seems clear that Fluff has no nutritional value whatsoever. However, it's also unclear whether it deserves to be singled out from other junk foods. The creme, made of only four ingredients—corn syrup, sugar syrup, vanilla flavoring and egg whites—is 50 percent sugar, prompting Barrios to state, "I'm not sure we should be even calling it a food." On the other hand, Fluff has no preservatives, stabilizers, emulsifiers, or colorings and is gluten-free and kosher.One school food service director pointed out that the Fluffernutter appeases finicky eaters, boosts students' daily calorie intake, and encourages them to eat peanut butter, a good source of protein and vitamin E. A Fluffernutter sandwich on wheat bread packs about 328 calories, about the same as PB&J, and some lawmakers argued that jelly was no better than Fluff on sandwiches.

In seriousness, the Fluffernutter debate is entertaining but silly—a bunch of Fluff, if you will. An informal poll by Barrios' staff found that only one in 14 Massachusetts schools even serve Fluffernutters, so PB&J is probably a greater threat to Massachusetts children's health. Barrios can take solace in the fact that the school district in Cambridge, his home district, has decided to remove Fluff from its menu this September. The failed amendment, however, does bring up a few important questions for education policymakers: What role should schools play in the fight against skyrocketing rates of childhood obesity and diabetes? Can nutrition in schools be legislated? And is the Fluffernutter ultimately a force for good or for evil in American society?

--By Laura Boyce